Zorro, the masked avenger of the Old Southwest, has been one of the most popular heroic figures of the twentieth century. The character, created by Johnston McCulley (1883–1958) in 1919, first appeared in a story titled "The Curse of Capistrano" in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly. El Zorro ("The Fox") dressed completely in black and wore a mask and a wide-brimmed hat to conceal his identity as he fought evildoers in nineteenth-century California. He rode a jet-black horse named Tornado and was a master with both sword and whip. His trademark was to carve a "Z" with his blade upon his enemies. Without his costume, Zorro was the wealthy Spanish count Don Diego, who assumed a foppish manner to conceal his secret identity. (A fop is a man who is overly concerned about his looks and his clothes.) Zorro's adventures have thrilled Americans for generations as he has appeared in...